LECTURES AND TEACHING

Dynamic Time: The "Missing Link" in the Search for a Unified Theory? (2006)Author: Avshalom C. Elitzur

Dynamic
Time: The "Missing Link" in the Search for a Unified Theory?

A. C.
Elitzur

While
modern theories lavishly invoke several spatial dimensions within models that
seek to unify relativity theory and quantum mechanics, none seems to consider
the possibility that a yet-unfamiliar aspect of time may do the work. I
introduce the notion of Becoming and then consider its consequences for
physical theory. Becoming portrays a possible aspect of time that is
"curled" very much like the extra spatial dimensions in
superstring theories. Within the resulting picture of spacetime, some
fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics, special and general relativity,
thermodynamics and modern cosmology fit in very naturally. The proposed model
is not yet a scientific theory as it still lacks a rigorous formalism and
experimental predictions, yet it points out an entire family of possible
theories that merit serious consideration.